Washington, DC—On Wednesday, September 30 at 2:30pm, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) will chair a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, entitled “U.S. Policy toward Burma: Its Impact and Effectiveness.” Webb serves as chairman of the Subcommittee.
Senator Webb intends the comprehensive hearing to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. policy toward Burma. It will examine Burma’s current economic and political situation and discuss how the country’s long history of internal turmoil and ethnic conflicts has affected the development of democracy. In addition, it will review the current policy of U.S.-imposed economic sanctions unmatched by many other countries, discuss what role the United States can and should play in promoting democratic reform in Burma, and hear testimony on how to frame a new direction for U.S.-Burma relations.
The hearing follows the Senator’s two-week, five-country trip through much of the Southeast Asia mainland where he was the first Member of Congress to visit Burma in ten years. Webb has called upon the United States and other nations to carefully review the sanctions policies against Myanmar and consider a new approach.
WHAT: Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee Hearing, “U.S. Policy Toward Burma: Its Impact and Effectiveness”
WITNESSES: Panel 1
The Honorable Kurt Campbell
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs
Department of State
Washington, DC
Panel 2
Mr. Thant Myint-U
Historian and Visiting Senior Fellow, Institution for Southeast Asian Studies
Singapore
Dr. David Steinberg
Distinguished Professor and Director of Asian Studies
Georgetown University
Washington, DC
Professor David C. Williams
John S. Hastings Professor of Law
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 2:30pm
WHERE: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
*** The hearing will be webcast at www.foreign.senate.gov.